Thursday, December 31, 2009

Salinadi

Thursday, December 31, 2009


Fasting women devotees congregate on the banks of the Salinadi River on northwestern fringe of the capital to start the month-long worshipping of Swasthani on Sunday.

Most of the Nepalese Hindu households have a tradition of reading out the Hindu scripture called Swosthani beginning on the full moon day called Milla-punhi (mid- January) in the bright fortnight of the month called Poush (mid-January) and ending on the next full moon day called See-punhi (mid-February) in the month of Magha in the Vikram calendar. This year, it starts on January 22.





Nepalis believe that reading out and listening to the Hindu scripture called Swosthani help them in keeping away evil spirits and inauspicious things from their home. Some women take a Swosthani brata (a day fast) for the whole month. They believe that such undertakings please Goddess Swosthani, and she meets their wishes. Goddess Parvati, believed to be another form of Goddess Swosthani, had undertaken such religious worship to achieve her goal of receiving Lord Shiva as her spouse.

People dedicate this auspicious month of Magha to Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. They spend the whole month on in service of and in praise of this divine couple. A month long religious fair is held at the river called Salinadi in Sankhu about 20km northeast of Kathmandu. People venerate Goddess Swosthani and demigoddess Chandrawoti who suffered the consequences of the insult she had inflicted on Goddess Swosthani. Later on, Chandrawoti undertook the Swosthani brata for a month to atone for the sin and she got relief from her suffering and became a demigoddess.


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